Publications by authors named "Kristopher Huffman"

Background: Clinical calculators can provide patient-personalized estimates of treatment risks and health outcomes. The American College of Surgeons Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) set out to create a publicly available tool to assess both short-term postoperative risk and long-term benefits for prospective adult patients eligible for 1 of 4 primary bariatric procedures. The calculator is comprised of multiple prediction elements: (1) 30-day postoperative risk, (2) 1-year body mass index projections, and (3) 1-year comorbidity remission.

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Background: Data-driven tools can be designed to provide patient-personalized estimates of health outcomes. Clinical calculators are commonly built to assess risk, but potential benefits of treatment should be equally considered. The American College of Surgeons Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) sought to create a risk and benefit calculator for adult patients considering primary metabolic and bariatric surgery with multiple prediction features: (1) 30-day risk, (2) 1-year body mass index (BMI) projections, and (3) 1-year co-morbidity remission.

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Background: There is increasing demand for data-driven tools that provide accurate and clearly communicated patient-specific information. These can aid discussions between practitioners and patients, promote shared decision-making, and enhance informed consent. The American College of Surgeons Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) sought to create a risk calculator for adult patients considering primary metabolic and bariatric surgery, with multiple prediction features: (1) 30-day risk; (2) 1-year body mass index projections; and (3) 1-year co-morbidity remission.

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In the present report, we have described the abrupt pivot of Vascular Quality Initiative physician members away from standard clinical practice to a restrictive phase of emergent and urgent vascular procedures in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The Society for Vascular Surgery Patient Safety Organization queried both data managers and physicians in May 2020 to discern the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately three fourths of physicians (74%) had adopted a restrictive operating policy for urgent and emergent cases only.

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In response to the pandemic, an abrupt pivot of Vascular Quality Initiative physician members away from standard clinical practice to a restrictive phase of emergent and urgent vascular procedures occurred. The Society for Vascular Surgery Patient Safety Organization queried both data managers and physicians in May 2020. Approximately three-fourths (74%) of physicians adopted restrictive operating policies for urgent and emergent cases only, whereas one-half proceeded with "time sensitive" elective cases as urgent.

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 To determine whether perioperative outcomes differ between patients undergoing concurrent compared with non-concurrent bariatric operations in the USA. Retrospective, propensity score matched cohort study. Hospitals in the US accredited by the American College of Surgeons' metabolic and bariatric surgery accreditation and quality improvement program.

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Background: Efforts to improve healthcare quality involve profiling hospitals and providers. Whether cancer-specific measures can be used reliably for profiling purposes has not been reported.

Study Design: Hospitals and surgeons were profiled with 3 measures assessing the adequacy of lymphadenectomy for colon (ie at least 12 regional lymph nodes [12RLN] are removed and pathologically examined for resected colon cancer), gastric (ie at least 15 regional lymph nodes [G15RLN] are removed and pathologically examined for resected gastric cancer), and non-small cell lung (ie at least 10 regional lymph nodes [10RLN] are removed and pathologically examined for American Joint Committee on Cancer stage IA, IB, IIA, and IIB resected non-small cell lung cancer) cancers using hierarchical models.

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Objective: To evaluate readmissions following laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB).

Background: Few studies have evaluated national readmission rates for primary bariatric surgery with national, bariatric-specific data.

Methods: Patients undergoing primary LAGB, LSG, or LRYGB from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014, at 698 centers were identified based upon Current Procedural Terminology codes.

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Objective: Questions remain regarding best surgical techniques to use for a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) including the use of staple line reinforcement (SLR), bougie size (BS), and distance from the pylorus (DP) where the staple line is initiated. Our objectives were to assess the impact of these techniques on 30-day outcomes and to evaluate the impact of these techniques on weight loss and comorbidities at 1 year.

Methods: Using the MBSAQIP data registry, univariate analyses and hierarchical logistical regression models were developed to analyze outcomes for techniques of LSG at patient and surgeon-level.

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Background: Surgical quality improvement depends on hospitals having accurate and timely information about comparative performance. Profiling accuracy is improved by risk adjustment and shrinkage adjustment to stabilize estimates. These adjustments are included in ACS NSQIP reports, where hospital odds ratios (OR) are estimated using hierarchical models built on contemporaneous data.

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Background: There is increasing interest in profiling the quality of individual medical providers. Valid assessment of individuals should highlight improvement opportunities, but must be considered in the context of limitations.

Study Design: High quality clinical data from the American College of Surgeons NSQIP, gathered in accordance with strict policies and specifications, was used to construct individual surgeon-level assessments.

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Objective: To assess statistical reliability of hospital profiling models in ACS NSQIP (American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program).

Background: The ACS NSQIP January 2013 Semiannual Report provided risk-adjusted hospital quality assessments for 137 models.

Methods: Median reliability and percentage of hospitals achieving acceptable reliability were computed for each model.

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Unlabelled: BACKGROUND The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric was initiated in 2008 to drive quality improvement in children's surgery. Low mortality and morbidity in previous analyses limited differentiation of hospital performance.

Methods: Participating institutions included children's units within general hospitals and free-standing children's hospitals.

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The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) collects detailed clinical data from participating hospitals using standardized data definitions, analyzes these data, and provides participating hospitals with reports that permit risk-adjusted comparisons with a surgical quality standard. Since its inception, the ACS NSQIP has worked to refine surgical outcomes measurements and enhance statistical methods to improve the reliability and validity of this hospital profiling. From an original focus on controlling for between-hospital differences in patient risk factors with logistic regression, ACS NSQIP has added a variable to better adjust for the complexity and risk profile of surgical procedures (procedure mix adjustment) and stabilized estimates derived from small samples by using a hierarchical model with shrinkage adjustment.

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